


Mountain Bird

by Shamaru



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: But they're there so they get tagged, The cops don't play a huge role
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23604727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamaru/pseuds/Shamaru
Summary: This is the life, as told in bits and pieces, of a siren named Sirius.
Kudos: 7





	Mountain Bird

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to get this thing done for quite some time now. My inspiration kept wanting to do something else every time I opened this fic to work on it. Well it's finally done so take it before I decide to write more on it!

1.

Sirius was born into a relatively small flock of less than one hundred. His birth was seen as a good omen- both for the fact that he was one of only a handful of children born that year and that he was male. His flock didn’t exactly hurt for males, but having another increased the gene pool. That he was healthy and lively from birth was yet another good sign.

His flock wasn’t a strict one so he was allowed to grow into his own path without interference. He was quiet and polite and found a love in keeping things in order. 

His downy fluff was replaced with dual colored feathers- burnt orange on the top of his head leading down to his tail and tops of his wings while unblemished white colored his belly and undersides. 

He learned to fly quickly when the time came. He and the other children spent their days flinging themselves from the cliffs that their home rested on top of and improving their flight. They were warned not to go far because of danger, but danger seemed to find them first.

2.

Sirius had been the first to race down the cliff side when the stranger appeared and had landed with grace nearby. They regarded each other warily at first, siren and human, but soon introduced themselves and began to play as if they’d always known each other. Others came down the cliffs to join in after realizing there was no threat.

They continued to meet with the human boy, Alex, for weeks, gaining additional human companions over the days. 

The humans would climb the rocks while the sirens would flit around them in the air and make up games that only young ones could understand. Things were good for quite some time. Until the day things went wrong as they tended to do.

Sirius wasn’t sure what had happened. One second he and Alex had been playing and the next he was watching the world in slow motion as the human’s footing slipped and he tumbled down, down, down. The siren had dove after him, but he’d reached too late. Alex had hit with a terrible noise on the rocks and failed to get back up.

The other humans screamed and ran.

Sirius stood with blood splashed on his legs, staring down at the mess that he’d called friend.

It wasn’t long before the children returned, but now they had adults with them.

One of the humans began to scream and the sirens took off in a panic, leaving Sirius rooted in his spot. He stared up at the small group of humans with wide eyes. The screaming man had started stomping toward him and Sirius stayed still, bowing his head slightly in shame. He knew the look of grief in the man’s eyes and figured this was his child.

That look of grief twisted into hatred the closer the human moved.

Too late did Sirius realize he needed to get away.

Just as the siren turned to flee he felt a hand snatch at one of his wings. He yelped as feathers were pulled out under the grip, but still tried to get away from the human. There were more voices joining the screaming and he could hear more of them rushing toward him with an urgent note to their sounds. They crowd was close and he didn’t know their intention and he had to get away before-

He felt the pain of his wing bending in the wrong direction for a fraction of a moment before the snap and then white hot agony laced through.

The human was pulled away from him as he screamed, his wing twisted at an angle too wrong and dangling uselessly. From above came two figures, his parents having descended to protect their young, and his mother scooped him up in an instant. 

As she took off Sirius heard the shouts of the humans calling them monsters.

3.

He begged them not to go, but they didn’t listen. Enraged by the attack against their son, his parents were baying for human blood.

The last time he saw them was diving down the cliff side and streaking toward the human village beyond the woods.

They never returned.

Alone on the cliffs in the dead of night, days past, he tried to make peace with the fact that he’d lost his parents. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks and he perched on the rocks facing the human village. It seemed right to sing for them then. They’d never gotten to hear him sing and he found it fitting that his first song, though not a joyful one as first songs tended to be, would still be for them. So he stood and closed his eyes, feeling deep down for the right notes, finding something that spoke to him and summoning it up.

Just before the sound could escape his throat locked up.

Sirius froze. His eyes widened and he put a hand against his throat.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

He tried again to pull on that sorrowful song he could feel, giving everything he had in bringing it up. And again it stuck in his throat with barely a croak released. 

Panic welled up in him. He couldn’t bring up his song. He couldn’t _sing_. First his flight and now his voice.

Sirius screamed.

4.

It took a long time before his wing healed from the messy break. Tendons and muscles had been stretched and torn along with the bone breaking, but they’d healed slowly too. Nothing could make them heal correctly though. His wing looked fine. It just didn’t work properly. He couldn’t take off from the ground now, but he tried not to let it get to him. If he jumped from the cliffs he could stay in the air for a while before having to land again. The only real problem was having to climb back up the rocks without the aid of flight.

He learned how to climb. He had no choice.

5.

While he was still small if he needed help he could usually ask an adult and they would help him more often than not. As he grew older it became harder to get any help. Eventually he stopped asking and learned to handle his problems on his own.

By his late teenage years Sirius had fully fledged. His feathers had grown in nicely, prim and proper as he liked. Unlike how he wished though he’d grown a bit twiggy. His muscles weren’t as developed as the others his age due to not being worked as often and his diet was lacking since he couldn’t hunt for himself as well as the others. Fortunately he was still young enough that asking others for their scraps wasn’t seen as insulting. Unfortunately he was getting up in age and would need to find a better way of living.

He decided to build a nest away from the rest of his flock closer to the cliffs. There he could jump and fly at a moments notice which made hunting a bit easier. Only if prey wandered close to the cliffs, but he’d manage.

Soon the others of his age were pairing off and finding their place in the flock. Sirius, however, stayed to himself. No one came looking for him. He didn’t blame anyone for it. Who would want a partner who couldn’t fly right? He couldn’t reliably help hunt which meant he couldn’t provide for a future family. No, he was better off on his own.

He kept telling himself that.

Eventually the pain in the thoughts faded.

6.

He was a young adult when things took a sharp turn in his life.

One day the quiet he was so used to was interrupted by footsteps breaking into his campsite. Seeing another siren wasn’t a surprise, but he’d been shocked to realize that he didn’t recognize them. His flock was small enough that, even if he didn’t know a name, he knew every face there was. The woman before him was entirely new.

She hadn’t introduced herself, but had told him that he needed to follow her back to his flock. There was some important reason why, but looking back he couldn’t remember what she’d told him. 

7.

Sirius’s life, up until now, had been simple recordings. Now, however. Now was when he began to live his life outside of the pages of memory.

8.

He stepped into the edge of the flock with hesitation. All around him were people he knew mixed with a larger number of people he didn’t know. What had happened? Where had all these sirens come from? The questions must have showed on his face because the next thing that he knew he was being blindsided by a ruby red wing shooting into his vision and a rather tall woman, the owner of that wing, was stepping closer and smiling at him.

“You look rather lost, dear.” she said in a sweet voice. “Is everything alright?”

Sirius most definitely didn’t know this woman. He took a single step back just to get a little distance between them and cleared his throat. “Just... wondering.” he said slowly. “Who are you?”

The red feathered siren’s smile widened. “Amelie.”

9.

It turned out that she was the leader of another flock that had been migrating when they’d spotted Sirius’s flock on their cliffs. They’d landed and everyone had curiously mingled together, generally getting along and diving into trading stories between flocks.

There would be a mixing of blood between them too. Some of Amelie’s flock were staying behind while some of Sirius’s were joining the new sirens when they planned to leave the next morning. Amelie had extended the offer to him as well, but he’d been hesitant.

Amelie had taken Sirius by the hand and the two had walked off into the wood far away from all the others.

“You seem like a nice man, Sirius.” she told him in her sweet voice. “I really would love for you to join us.”

Sirius smiled. It was the first time in years anyone had shown interest in him. He didn’t feel like she was the one for him, but perhaps in the future she could be.

“I’m thinking about joining. If your offer was genuine.” he said.

“It very much was.” she replied, watching him now with full attention. 

He smiled, pleased, then glanced away with a touch of embarrassment. “I’d just need a good place to set up near a ledge of some sort. It’s... frustrating, but I need the room since I can’t take off from the ground. It’s from a childhood injury.”

“Oh, darling.” She laughed, a melodious sound. It clashed with her next words. “You won’t need to worry about that. After all, you won’t need to fly anywhere.”

Sirius frowned slightly at that. “What do you mean?” he asked after a short pause. “How can I be useful if I can’t fly? I may not be the best hunter, but I can help set traps or gather or something.”

She laughed again and this time he caught a nasty little note souring it. “You’ll be plenty useful staying at home, my dear, and all you have to do is sit around looking pretty.”

“What does that even mean?” Sirius was growing frustrated just thinking about sitting around like a show piece. Something was starting to add up in his mind, but he needed confirmation. “What exactly do you want me joining your flock for if not for another set of helping hands?”

Amelie’s smile, whether or not Sirius imagined it, turned a tad cruel at the edges. “Truthfully I only really want you for your genes, Sirius. My flock is low on males, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, and we need new breeding stock. And your coloration tells me you’d make a wonderful breeder.” She made a show of eyeing his feathers. “You’ll be allowed to roam where you please and we’re not terrible to our males like some flocks, but you wouldn’t be allowed to fly very far from us anyway. Being grounded should get rid of that temptation for you. Perhaps it’s a good thing, dear.”

His frown had deepened until he was left scowling once she stated her true intentions. “You know what, Amelie?” He took a long step back from her, his feathers ruffling with his anger and his claws scraping against the rocks. “I don’t think this is going to work out after all. I think I’ll stick with my tiny flock, thank you.”

“What?” Amelie seemed honestly thrown. As if she was used to getting her way which, as the leader of her flock, she probably was. She smoothed her expression quickly and smiled more sweetly. “Don’t you think that’s a little hasty, dear? Doesn’t being pampered and being surrounded by women seem like a good thing? I assure you we really do take care of our males.”

Sirius shook his head. “Maybe I’m too free spirited for that.”

Amelie’s mouth opened and closed like a beached fish, but she seemed to have nothing to say to that. Hatred colored her expression for a split second before it smoothed back over.

“Alright,” she sniffed. “That’s just as well. But will you be joining your flock this evening to celebrate with mine? Me and mine will be whipping up a feast to celebrate our new companions. I’d hate for you to miss out and regret not giving those leaving your flock a final farewell.”

Sirius’s scowl softened slightly. He did have a friend, though they were no longer close, who would be leaving them by morning with the others. Maybe he should stay to say goodbye. “I suppose I’ll be there. If only to say goodbye.”

Amelie nodded and turned to leave. “I’ll see you then, darling. I promise you a night you won’t forget.”

10.

The feast, as it turned out, wasn’t being held all that close.

The two flocks had flown together beyond the cliffs, pushing Sirius’s limit of flight until he settled on the new spot with sweat on his brow. Still, he’d made it. And the view from the new area made it worth the long flight and the slight pain in his damaged wing.

He smelled salt in the air and breathed it in deep while perching at the edge of the cliffs looking out over the ocean. He’d never been this far, but he’d heard stories from some who had. The waves far below crashed against the rocks and if he leaned far enough over he swore he could feel the spray.

“Enjoying the view, dear?”

Sirius jerked back from the ledge and leveled his gaze at Amelie. “It’s nice.” he said casually.

“Don’t be harsh, Sirius.” she said with a smile. “I’m not angry about earlier. And tonight is for celebrating, not for fighting. Come now. We’re already setting up.”

She turned on her heel and walked off toward where the rest of the two flocks had landed, but Sirius hesitated to join. He didn’t trust her. But he’d come so far and he wouldn’t be leaving again any time soon so he decided that he may as well join in on whatever would be going on. If nothing else maybe he could find someone else to spend the evening with.

Unfortunately Amelie was determined to stay by his side.

As time went on he tried everything he could to shake the persistent woman, but she hounded him throughout the evening. Finally he resorted to taking one of the fermented fruit drinks on one of the various tables and drank. Maybe if he couldn’t get rid of her he could at least take the edge off his anger. He lost count of how many drinks he downed before he felt more calm.

Amelie pulled him away from the table by the time he’d had enough to make his legs wobble. His head was pleasantly swimming and everything had a calming fuzz around the edge. His mood had improved as well and he smiled at the red siren as if she hadn’t angered him at all. 

“Hi, Amelie.” he greeted her. 

“Hello, Sirius.” she greeted back. Then she smiled, too many teeth on display. “You’ve been drinking.”

He hummed. “It’s good stuff. Makes me feel better about... about everything.”

“Oh? Well that’s good, dear. Would you like one more drink? I picked it up, but I’m not feeling up to drinking.” 

A cup was being offered to him and he took it automatically, inhaling the sweet smell of summer ripened berries. Unlike the rest of what he’d had, the liquid in this cup bubbled slightly. He squinted and swore there was something floating in the drink, dissolving before his eyes. He almost returned it, but Amelie’s hand covered his and guided the cup to his lips. He drank without thought until the cup was empty and smacked his lips when it was gone. 

“Bitter at the end there.” he mumbled.

Amelie simply smiled.

The two continued their walk until they reached the edge of the wood and rock began. A bit further had them perching on the edge of the cliff side, the roar of the ocean far below. They sat for some time in strangely comfortable silence before Amelie broke it.

“I really do wish you would reconsider my offer, Sirius.” she stated. “I’d like for things not to end poorly.”

He raised a brow and glanced at her, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as his vision swam. “Poorly?” His tongue rolled in his mouth. It felt heavy and slightly numb. “It won’t. You leave, I leave. Simple. I don’t wanna join you.” He raised a hand to his mouth to wipe away drool that suddenly spilled from his lips, but his arm felt like it wasn’t connected to his body and he ended up swinging too far to one side. Something was very wrong. “What... What was in that drink?”

He turned as if in slow motion to see Amelie holding onto a small pair of shears. Where she’d gotten them he had no idea. What she planned to do with them he didn’t want to know. He tried to get up, but tripped over himself before he was fully off his seat and tumbled face first into the rocks with a strangled cry.

“Poor dear.” Amelie cooed as she rose. The shears opened and closed in her hands with quiet _snick_ sounds. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. This won’t take long.”

Sirius turned his head to look up at her, feeling numb and too heavy to move. He was aware of pressure on his back, one of his wings stretching, but he couldn’t see that far. There was a strange feeling that vibrated down from the tips of his feathers and a moment later he caught sight of a chunk of auburn fluttering down in front of his face. Another vibration and another chunk. Another. Another. His wing was let go and the process started again on the opposite wing until he realized with a start what was happening.

She was clipping his wings.

He tried to shout, tried to struggle, but whatever she’d slipped into that drink had him well and fully helpless. His muscles wouldn’t work and his voice seemed locked behind his mouth. It wasn’t long before Amelie seemed to be finished with his wings though. Then she was hefting him off the ground and walking off with him.

Sirius realized two things at that moment. One, he was entirely at her mercy and, two, she wasn’t heading back toward the woods.

They were heading for the ocean.

“I didn’t want it to end like this.” she said suddenly. “But I’m not the type to take no for an answer, Sirius. So, as cliche as it sounds, if I can’t have you then I’ll make sure no one can. Goodbye, dear.”

Then he was falling.

The ocean came up fast, but he didn’t hit the waves. Instead he landed on his back on a small rocky spot where the water barely covered. Something popped and a burning sensation shot up along both wings and down to his tail. He wanted to scream, but the drug in the drink prevented him from making more than a choked off whimper.

It would be a long time before he could even think of moving again.

11.

He wanted Amelie to suffer. He wanted to clip her wings the way she’d done to him and leave her abandoned on the cliff side.

Sadly by the time he screamed long enough for help to appear she and her flock were long gone. He was lucky his had stayed behind as long as they had or he’d have been left to die in cold shallow water. As it was it took four others helping to drag him up the side of the cliff while he climbed as best he could. His wings drooped limply against his back and he tried hard not to think about what that meant.

12.

It was a miracle that he made it back to his old nesting grounds with the others. He’d been carried in a sling by a team of a dozen, but he knew they’d wanted to leave him behind. What was a flightless siren to a flock after all?

He decided that night to move far away from the rest of them and settle on his own next to the cliffs on the other side of the wood.

13.

He woke in pain.

The weather was growing colder and, just his luck, rain was coming down in sheets. His makeshift nest wasn’t keeping all of the water out either and the drops that landed on him were icy. His wings ached and all he could do was wrap his arms tightly around himself and hope for it to stop. But stop it did not. Not for what felt like eternity, but was in fact only about an hour. By the time the rain stopped pelting him he’d gone numb.

Slowly he crawled from his home, wings almost dragging the ground in their uselessness, and began the short trek to the edge of the cliffs. Rain always made the rocks slippery, but he’d managed to carve out the easiest possible path for himself and hardly slipped anymore. Once he’d managed to drag himself to the top he had to sit to catch his breath. His feathers were soaked and weighing him down and his poor diet had taken a toll on his strength. But he’d made it and soon he could sit beside his old flock and at least pretend that things were better.

It took him longer this time to gain the energy needed to keep going. He decided to ignore that fact.

His claws crunched through dead leaves as he walked slowly. No other sound accompanied his. Strange, he thought. There should have at least been voices now that he was so close to the nesting grounds. He wondered if everyone had decided to stay inside until they were sure the rain wasn’t about to make a comeback. He wouldn’t blame them if they had. But the closer he got the more the silence rang with a worrying undertone.

When he reached the grounds he felt his heart sink. Homes had been swept away, demolished and left as piles of wood and brush, and the wide campfire that always sat in the center of it all had been scattered. Step by step he wandered around the ash coated ground and peered around. The longer he looked the harder it started to hurt. All the signs around him pointed to peace. Nothing had attacked. Nothing had driven anyone away. His flock had simply stayed in one spot too long and decided to do what most small flocks did and migrate to a new home.

They’d simply left.

Without him.

Without so much as even a goodbye.

Sirius felt the lump forming in his throat. He swallowed hard against it and fought the agony rising up in his chest. But this time he couldn’t hold it back. This time the dam burst and he felt hot tears roll down his cheeks as he brought his hands up to bury his face in. He couldn’t even stay on his feet, his knees hitting the ground and his body coiling in on itself as he sobbed. He tried to sing something to convey all the grief he needed to let out, but his throat locked up on him as it always did and he only cried harder for it. 

If he couldn’t sing he would scream.

14.

He forced himself away from the deserted nesting grounds after a few hours. There was nothing left for him there. If he needed he could return to gather the housing materials in order to make him own home stronger, but for now he just needed to get away from it all.

He found it oddly easy to come to terms with the facts that he was now songless, flightless, and flockless.

What a strange siren was he.

15.

The days grew shorter and colder. Soon there would be snow.

He wasn’t prepared.

He wouldn’t last.

16.

In a moment of weakness he turned into a vulture. 

He’d found the remains of a deer carcass, looking half eaten already, and he’d dug into it until nothing was left. It had been old and the tang of meat going bad had coated his tongue, but he hadn’t cared. Winter was harsh and his hunting skills were growing worse by the day.

17.

The snow was high and he hadn’t eaten in days. His useless wings dragged behind him and left his tracks easy to spot.

He contemplated cutting them off and eating them.

18.

It was the point of the day when the sun was at its highest point when he heard the footsteps. At this point he didn’t care if anyone found him. He was weak and exhausted. Let something come pick him off and finally put an end to his miserable existence since he was too much of a coward to do it himself. He just hoped he didn’t suffer long. He’d done enough of that in his lifetime.

But there never came the bite of fangs or the sting of claws. Nothing so much as touched him. The footsteps drew closer then stopped. Eventually he picked out voices nearby.

“They were right. There _is_ a monster up here.”

Sirius almost groaned. All those years and human parents were still telling that to their young? No one, as far as he knew, had even seen him since he was young himself.

“It looks like a big bird.”

“I think it might be dead.”

This time he did grunt, if only to confirm that he was very much not dead.

“Oh! It’s alive! Should we leave?”

“Nah. It’s not getting up. I don’t think it even knows we’re here.”

Slowly, feeling like the motion took everything he had, Sirius raised his head and looked directly at the humans. They froze when he spotted them and he took the moment to study them. There were only two and they were identical in looks aside from one wearing a large rounded pair of glasses. Young humans.

“You two aren’t very stealthy.” he told them. “Get out of here. Before I... eat you or something.”

One of the two humans snapped out of their shock faster than the other. “’Or something’?” he mimicked. “What’s that supposed t’mean?”

“It means leave. Humans aren’t supposed to be here.” Sirius lay his head back down, already tired from the short interaction.

“Says who?” the human asked.

“Says me. It’s my mountain. Go away.” the siren responded.

“Y’gonna make us go away? Y’don’t look all that scary.”

Slowly there came footsteps crunching in the rocks getting closer. Sirius turned a bit to see the humans better and flashed his teeth as a warning. Sure enough the two stopped inching toward him. When he didn’t move they seemed to gain some bravery though. How dumb of them, he thought. Then he began to rethink the situation. Two human children had gotten close to him. So close, in fact, that they could reach out and touch him.

Or, rather, he could reach out and grab them.

His flock had all but abandoned hunting humans as there was plenty of available game that wouldn’t fight back so hard. But hunting for him had become impossible. He knew adult humans posed an actual threat, but their young looked helpless in comparison. Could he really be blamed for picking off two that had wandered up to him when they were warned against it? Would it really be so bad to become the monster that humans feared? His stomach decided to throw in its opinion in the form of a hunger cramp and he momentarily curled in on himself with a soft whimper.

When he looked up again the human with the glasses had stepped even closer with a look of worry. Sirius didn’t care about the look. He stared at the human for a few seconds before making a decision.

He was starving and a meal had just presented itself.

Quicker than he thought possible in his weakened state he jerked forward and reached out toward the closer human. His claws wrapped tightly around their ankle and he pulled, knocking them to the ground with a startled scream and dragging them toward him. Already his mouth was watering at the thought of having fresh meat after so long. So entranced by the idea was he that he completely ignored the second human in favor of focusing on the prey already in his grip. His prey struggled and tried to kick at his face, but they hardly had any more strength than the siren himself and holding them down proved easy even in his weakened state. Sirius’s jaws parted and he descended on the human’s leg.

Just before his teeth connected he felt a searing pain lace up the side of his face.

He released the human with a shriek and flopped backward away from them, bringing his hands up to clutch at his wounded face. His eyes found them from between his fingers and he noticed the blade in the second human’s hand- red with his blood. 

Sirius could only watch as the human hauled his twin up, both shaking and terrified looking. They didn’t spare him another glance as they turned and hightailed it back the way they’d come. Once they were out of sight the siren felt the adrenaline fueled burst of energy leave him. 

He’d been found. He’d attacked and failed. Now they’d bring more humans to him and he’d be killed.

He didn’t want to die like that. He didn’t want to be put down like a wild animal. But what could he do? Now he could hardly even keep his eyes open. Maybe it was best if they found him asleep then. At least his death would be unknown and merciful.

When he finally woke it was dark. He didn’t know how long he’d been there for, but obviously he wasn’t dead. Which was strange to him. Even stranger though was the lumpy white thing laying only a few feet away from his face. It looked like a poorly tied package of some sort and it also looked slightly wet. He managed the strength to reach out and grab the thing and when he did he gasped.

Jostling the package had let out the most mouth watering smell.

Sirius’s entire body shook with the effort it took to even sit up, but he absolutely had to make the move. His fingers didn’t cooperate well, but he managed to untie the fabric from the package and actually felt his eyes water as the smell hit him twice as strong. Inside the wrapping lay a good sized chunk of some sort of roasted meat glistening with still warm juices. The fleeting thought of poison came to mind, but then he was greedily tearing off a mouthful and lost himself.

Venison, his tongue was quick to supply. Maybe a little overcooked, but at the moment it was the best thing he’d ever had in his entire life. When he forced himself to stop he almost cried, but he knew if he tried to eat it all at once he’d only make himself sick. So he slowed down and savored each bite until every scrap was gone. Then he sat back and thought.

Had it been those children? The thought filled him with guilt and shame. He’d tried to eat them and they’d repayed his attempted murder with a hot meal that would likely save his life.

This time he couldn’t help but cry.

19.

They came back in the morning and brought with them another wrapped package. This time Sirius was awake, but he refused to look at them. He couldn’t. Not with the guilt he felt.

“What did you think of the meat?” the glasses wearing child asked him.

Sirius shuffled in his spot, sitting beneath a dead tree, but didn’t say anything. He glanced at them for a second then looked away again. One of the boys huffed then a small rock clattered near him. He glanced up after a second rock landed closer.

“It was... fine.” he answered quietly. “Um... Thanks...”

It seemed to be enough to satisfy them. They both smiled, one much wider than the other, and neared him just long enough to drop their package off. Smartly they stayed out of his grabbing range.

Sirius waited until the two had backed off again before making a grab for the cloth wrapped thing. He unwrapped another chunk of meat, this one he recognized as a half of a rabbit, and tore into it while ignoring the humans. He was past the point of caring if he looked presentable with his table manners around anyone else. He wasn’t about to wait for them to leave so he could eat.

“You’re really hungry aren’t you?”

Sirius paused and looked up, jumping when he saw the boy with the glasses sitting too close. The other was standing by with his knife in plain view as if ready to attack at a moments notice. Not that the siren was about to make another attempt at eating either of them.

“...yeah...” he said slowly, unsure of what else to say. “I... Uh. Almost starved to death. Over the winter.” Why he was telling them that he wasn’t sure. It made the boy gasp and the one with the knife sucked in a short sharp breath.

They left shortly after he’d finished eating and left him with questions.

20.

It had been weeks since his first encounter with the twins. They’d never stopped showing up and bringing him meals and thanks to that Sirius had gained strength back. He was back on his feet again and trying to pick his life back up. It was still near impossible with his ruined wings holding him back though.

“Sirius!”

He perked up and turned to face the boys as they came tromping out of the woods. This time he noticed a lack of packaging in either of their hands. He tried not to visibly deflate when he realized it meant they hadn’t brought him anything. 

“Hi, boys.” he greeted. “Anything new?”

The two came to stand right in front of him, a testament to how trusting they’d grown of him, and both smiled. The kind of smiles that told Sirius that they were up to no good.

“We’ve thought about it long and hard.” 

“And talked for forever about it.”

“We’ve decided that we want you to come with us.”

“To our house!”

Sirius stared at them. “To your house. Down by the humans.”

The twins glanced at each other then back to him. “We don’t really live that close to anyone.” Gair told him. “We’re at the edge of the woods on the other side of town.”

“No one would see you if y’didn’t want them to.” Bradley chimed in.

The siren shuffled in place. He wasn’t sure about being around humans in general. The twins different, of course. “I don’t know, boys. The last time I was around humans things didn’t end so well...”

“Come on, Sirius! You’ll be perfectly fine!”

“Yeah. It’s just us. And you’re alright with us, right?”

The siren nodded slowly. “If it’s just you two...”

“Promise!”

21\. 

It was not, in fact, just the twins.

It turned out that the boys lived with their parents in a small house on the edge of the woods. Sirius had tried to turn tail at the first sign of an adult human, but two sets of hands pulled him forward and he didn’t fight for fear of hurting them. They got close enough for the woman to spot them and Sirius’s childhood flashed before his eyes as she started toward them.

Only to be put to rest when she smiled warmly.

“Hello, there.” she greeted. “You must be Sirius. My boys have told me a lot about you.”

Sirius stared in wonder. He didn’t know humans could be polite. Besides the boys. “Uh, yes. Yes, I’m Sirius. Nice to... Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you too. Would you like to come in? You look too thin. I’ll make you something to eat.”

He wouldn’t turn away a meal, but... “Oh, I don’t think you want me in your home, ma’am.”

“And why’s that, dearie?” she asked, still smiling warmly.

“Because I’m filthy. Just look at me.” He motioned down to himself as if that would prove everything. “My feathers are covered in dirt and stickers and I’m pretty sure I’ve got mites.”

Even presented with that the woman simply shook her head and made a motion toward the house. “That’s quite alright. We can get you a hot bath and see about dealing with mites. We’re no strangers to them.” The last bit was said with a pointed look at the twins who grinned.

“A-Are you sure?” Sirius asked. 

“Of course she’s sure, son.” a new voice said from behind him. Sirius whipped around to find a kind looking man standing not too far away. “Once she sets her mind on somethin’ you can’t change it either. Best head inside before she drags you in by your ear.” He chuckled soft and quiet and Sirius felt his guard lowering just a little. These seemed like good people.

He smiled and took the invitation.

22.

A few days had gone by since he’d met the family and Sirius could say that his life was turning around. He’d built himself a home closer to theirs- much sturdier and actually waterproof unlike his old place. They’d helped him get himself cleaned up and he’d both become mite free and his feathers had gone back to their original bright coloring once all the dirt had been washed out of them.

The boys continued to pester him, but in a good way. He’d grown to adore their company.

Their parents had fashioned him a sort of sling for his wings to keep them from dragging along the ground everywhere he went. It helped to keep the feathers from growing tattered too which was a double win. He’d never be able to use them again, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like them to look nice.

And the best part was he could safely call the little family his new flock. They’d whole-heartedly accepted him and called him one of theirs already. 

His life had been rough, but now things were turning out for the best.

And he wouldn’t change it for the world.


End file.
